Fuller's Restaurant Sale Falls Through

Present Owner Keeps `Institution' On The Marker

HAMPTON — The proposed sale of the 88-year-old Fuller's restaurant, a Phoebus landmark, has fallen through.

Prospective buyer John Wright said the lack of a suitable financing package plus the cost of renovating the aging restaurant to city building codes were key factors in blocking the sale.

"It's just a deal that didn't happen," Wright said. "I wish it had gone through, but unfortunately it didn't happen."

The restaurant, known for good food and cheap beer, has sat empty since its doors closed for repairs in July. The two sides had reached an agreement in May; however the sale, which was originally scheduled to close July 31, was delayed to Aug. 17, when it officially fell through.

"You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him close," said Adrian Marshall, the Read Commercial Properties agent negotiating the sale.

"We're back to square one," said Marshall. "We are diligently looking for a new purchaser."

Nelson Fuller, the restaurant's owner, was uncertain as to why the deal could not be completed. "I was beginning to think we were going to do it."

Fuller, 69, said he is not up to restarting the business himself. He has incurred several hundred dollars in losses since closing the restaurant, much of it from electrical costs in keeping a storage freezer in operation.

Wright, a Newport News native now based in New York, said he would have retained the atmosphere of the restaurant. "You do not tamper with an institution," he said.

All the parties involved said they would like to see Fuller's survive. "I hope it remains Fuller's," Wright said. "I think it is an institution."

Fuller originally sought $350,000 for the property, but had agreed to less under the proposed sale.

Marshall said at this point that he would not limit the buying field only to restaurateurs intent on saving the building's character.